A new research paper by Professor Danny Quah, an economist at the London School of Economics, suggests that the world's "economic center of gravity" is shifting inexorably closer to China.

This makes practical sense-- the economic rise of China has shifted the "the average location of economic activity across geographies on Earth."

The New York Times has posted a cool animated map showing this slow eastward migration of economic activity: "Black dots represent the world’s actual economic center of gravity, shown every three years from 1980 to 2007. Red dots represent projections for every three years thereafter until 2049."

Essentially, what was a shared, trans-Atlantic economic hub can be seen moving gradually eastward toward China.  It's the economic equivalent of plate tectonics.

Read more and check out the animated map.